This invention relates to a fastener for strings, used for conveniently tying in position those strings which are designed to brace, lace, and otherwise tighten various clothes and sacks.
The expedient of slidably attaching a string around the skirt of a jacket or a winter coat or around the free edge of a hood or similarly attaching a string around the open edge of a sack, a bag or other similar pouch, gathering the aforementioned skirt or open edge as slid on the string, and tying the innermost ends of the exposed portions of the string as opposed to each other thereby keeping the gathered skirt or open edge in its drawn condition is widespread. The work of tying the innermost ends of the string exposed from the gathered skirt or open edge and the work of undoing the tied ends of the string are both relatively troublesome. For small children, they are frequently either impossible or very difficult.
To avoid this troublesome task, there has been developed and adopted for actual use a fastener for strings, which by using a simple procedure instead of the troublesome procedure inherent to the conventional manner, brings about the same effect on the opposed portions of a string as attained when they are tied as described above. This improved string fastener comprises a tubular housing provided laterally therein with a perforation and axially therein with a blind hole opening in one end of the housing, a sliding member adapted to be slid into the interior of the housing and provided laterally therein with a perforation which perfectly coincides with the perforation of the housing when the sliding member is completely admitted into the housing, and a spring interposed between the housing and the sliding member for the purpose of keeping in an outwardly energized state the sliding member admitted into the interior of the housing. When the string fastener is left standing in its natural condition, the perforation of the sliding member which is kept outwardly energized by the spring deviates from the perforation of the housing instead of coinciding therewith. These deviating perforations, to permit smooth passage therethrough of the opposite ends of the string, must be brought into perfect coincidence by causing the sliding member to be pushed into the interior of the housing against the energizing force of the spring. Then by relieving the force exerted to keep the sliding member pushed into the interior of the housing, the end portions of the string thus passed through the coinciding perforations are secured in position in much the same way as though they were tied in the conventional manner.
When the improved string fastener is used on a string which is attached to a hood, for example, since this string is required to be in a length amply greater than the total length of the open edge of the hood and further since the work of passing the opposite ends of the string through the perforations in the string fastener is troublesome, this string fastener is generally used with the end portions of the string passed to some extent through the perforations thereof. When the user of the coat having this hood puts on the hood, therefore, he is inevitably required to endure the inconvenience of slipping his head through the looped string. Owing to this and other inconveniences, this improved string fastener has been used only for the purpose of tying open edges of pouches. Further, since this string fastener ties the opposed protions of the string by simply nipping the end portions of the string between the housing and the sliding member with the energizing force of the spring, there is a possibility that the nipped portions of the string will slip out of position when some unexpected external pulling force is exerted upon the string. Thus, the string fastener lacks reliability. When the energizing force of the spring is increased for the purpose of precluding such accidental slippage of the nipped portions of the string, the work of pushing the sliding member into the housing necessitates great toil on the part of the user even to the extent of depriving the string fastener of its practicability.